Orac

Was this where the fire doors were found to be chained shut a few years back??

What fire exit?

In the aftermath of the Santika tragic event of the 1/1/09 this establishment had considerable amount of comments slating it's lack of fire exits and that the only way out was a tight passageway.

What has happened since 1/1/09 after it was stated that safety needed to improved and failing venues closed, IMHO nothing except that the people who are supposed to enforce safety have probable got a lot richer.

Checked back a bit more on this - there are fire exits but when there was a drugs check by the police a couple of years there was a crush when people used the fire exit which lead into a narrow alleyway which had a chained gate at the end. Not sure if anything has changed since then but the place does seem to be an accident waiting to happen.

I can't really see Thailand being in a position to do anything about it IF such a currency comes about - they are not a big enough player to either influence one being implimented or, being an export based economy, resist using one even if only for international trade.

Am I reading this correctly - PAD have filed a lawsuit against the PM and others for not stopping them from occupying the airport??

That is at variance with my interpretation. My understanding is that they feel that they are being treated unfairly harshly. Totally in keeping with the Thai psyche I fear.

So they are not claiming that they haven't broken the law but that are being treated unfairly by being investigated for breaking the law and have taken out a lawsuit accordingly - no wonder the law here is becoming a joke.

Was this where the fire doors were found to be chained shut a few years back??

(But there are also very high class and sophisticated Thai -and from other Asian countries- "Ladies" that are known, or even arranged by, the 5* hotel management to "comfort" certain high-so guests )...A friend of mine was, unexpectedly, sent a high class Lady, knocking his door and was asked if everything was all right with his suite. He thought it was the floor manager as she was dressed very chique.

"Please allow me to give you a massage, because you must be very tired, coming from HK"; he was surprised she knew he came from HK and suspected she wasn't the floor manager at all but thought, Oh well....and before he knew he was "comforted" all the way. Later it turned out she was sent by the owners of the hotel-chain in HK.

LaoPo

Is this complementary - if so which hotel???

Am I reading this correctly - PAD have filed a lawsuit against the PM and others for not stopping them from occupying the airport??

What I can't understand is that if he thought it was a woman and doesn't remember anything after getting back to his room and the hotel didn't check the ID card, which in itself sounds very odd for a top flight hotel, who has identified the suspect as a ladyboy??

[

The farmers asked Abhisit to raise the rubber price from Bt50 per kilogram to Bt60 and that of sugarcane to Bt12,000 per tonne. Abhisit agreed to help them.

It doesn't say what the current price for sugarcane is but the if he can be seen as responsible for a 20% rise in income for rubber farmers he should pick up quite a few votes.

I would read it that you are talking about a capital gain rather than income and as such, if it is a UK resident, would be liable to capital gains tax in the UK.

To have it paid into a personal offshore account would not be legal unless the same tax was paid in the UK anyway. If a company was set up offshore to hold the money then tax would only be liable when the money was withdrawn from the company account.

The rules on capital gains for non residents is different from that for income tax and depends on how long a person has been non resident.

Either way, depending on the amounts involved, professional advice would be recommended.

or a house - that always goes down well!

I believe (and expect) my to wife put our little girl at the top of any list, wether me or her mother would come next I would not like to put to the test and cannot see any reason why it would need to be unless I brought it up with her which I would be stupid to do. Everyone else would come further down any list.

This is the same as my wifes parents house - bucket and scoop system. In the 'cold' months the water is almost freezing (or feels like it anyway).

I had an electric shower put in for them but all they use it for is to fill the bucket.

I can shower and smell all nice, but after a 15 minute ride with my girlfriend to the local Suki shop, my head "min maak!"

What do you guys do to wash your helmets?

i have read this twice and i am still wondering which helmet you are refering to.. in any case cant she wash it for you?

According to Travelmate it depends if you are circumcised or not - more confused now.

Charlieben,

Has this man had any specific trouble with yourself or other neighbours in the past ? Also would be interested to know how long you have been neighbours.

If he is not a DIRECT threat to yourself I would take your wifes advice and not get involved - if it is a problem between him and his wife it is up to her to take some action or, at the very least, ask for some help. As for talking to other neighbours about it, and there is no direct threat to you or them, I would be vary wary about word getting back to him as, if he is dangerous enough to point a gun at his wifes head, then I wouldn't fancy your chances.

Orac

No trouble with the neighbours in the past, it's always big issues with his wife. The police have been around a few times to sort them out. Even 2 days ago the cops were here to sort out some issue they had with a previous nanny.

We have been neighbours for about 1.5 years.

As for a direct threat, I'm talking about public safety, who knows where one of these stray bullets will go? I personally don't feel scared of this guy as an individual. I don't understand exactly what issues he and his wife have, but she's no angel, and I'm sure she's doing a bit to set him off. Yes, I'm not 100% certain, but I can't see him turning his anger, like his does to his wife, directly onto me.

I think there is a difference between him getting pissed off for my calling out his stupid behaviour, and whatever his wife does to get him wound up. Yeah Yeah I know big call considering he has a gun, but that's how I assess it.

By the sound of things the issues between the two of them seem to be coming to a head - first time for gunshots in 1.5 years and police around 2 days ago about 'nanny problem'.

I suggest you keep your head down for a couple of days and see what transpires (or take a short holiday) as I cannot see anything that you can actively do that will not potentially inflame the situation. Maybe your wife could pick up on the local gossip, if any, which might give you a better idea of what is going on.

Charlieben,

Has this man had any specific trouble with yourself or other neighbours in the past ? Also would be interested to know how long you have been neighbours.

If he is not a DIRECT threat to yourself I would take your wifes advice and not get involved - if it is a problem between him and his wife it is up to her to take some action or, at the very least, ask for some help. As for talking to other neighbours about it, and there is no direct threat to you or them, I would be vary wary about word getting back to him as, if he is dangerous enough to point a gun at his wifes head, then I wouldn't fancy your chances.

Orac

If I had to go to bed and place a suitcase underneath that bed, filled with the currency of my choice, that would be all I had when I woke up in five years time I would say that sterling would be pretty much high on my list of choices, as would be yen or the dollar. It certainly wouldn't be the Thai baht.

So come on then what would you like to have in your suitcase ?

Waking up in say seven to ten years time, I would be very happy with a suitcase full of Thai Baht.

There may not even be a Thailand in seven to ten years time.

Pessimistic I know, but the writing is on the wall.

Pessimistic! Doomsday I'd say- I don't think the weight of the world's economic woes could result in the land being submerged.

In a sense I have that suitcase of sterling, in the shape of travellers cheques, and am quite happy with this. I think sterling will sink to 50 in the short term as the bt grows ruinously stronger.

Whether it be Baht or Sterling, at least the suitcase itself might have some value if it has not been nicked while you were sleeping

If you really want to get confident have a look at who owns the Bank of England and the Federal Reserse, institutions neck deep in the current mess. Yjey are not government, they are private institutions. Google who the real operators and power behind the scenes are.

Cheers...

Chunkton,

Having just googled as suggested in am a bit confused but think i will go with the Bank of Englands own position on who they are owned by:

http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/about/parliament/index.htm

Cheers

Orac

It could be the way I am reading this but, if your main concern is losing a week or two of vacation time if you have to come to Thailand, how were you intending to look after your wife if she had the baby in the US - surely you would have taken time off work to look after her and, if not, no wonder she wants to go back home.

As I have pointed out in previous posts in this topic, we decided that my wife should retun to Thailand to have our baby and, in hindsight, I am very glad we did decide to do this.

Though the sentiments expressed seem valid and I would have to agree that there are many very negative posters on here who believe that the rules/laws should be designed around the needs of expats rather than Thais, it is also interesting that this is very well written on an english language website which, on an admittedly brief check, is run by a farang and appears to be in competition with TV albeit with a more political bias. Also it was written on Oct 2007.

Despite this it should be recommended reading for posters on here to at least provoke a bit more thought before some posts are made.

I wouldnt sweat it too much - a lot of it is personal wind-up, simply emotional outbursts that have little or no relevance.

Ok....I won't sweat the small stuff too much.

Yes....the Chinese screw up, and so does Airbus.....or it's employees/mechanics. We're all only human. We ALL screw up sometimes. Wasn't it one of the first Airbuses that suddenly went into reverse thrust over Thailand in the middle of the nineties, and crashed ? Owned my Nicki Lauda ? And it will be very interesting to see what is revealed if the Air France black box is recovered from the Atlantic. Spaceships fail to function often ! Nothing is perfect....Murphy's Law rules often, unfortunately. This is just being realistic.

By the way, as it as an amusing incident, here are 2 of the Etihad crash photos again, in a different format, as attachments. Just imagine having been in the cabin ! Notice the ladder in the second pic !

Etihad were not too happy about the bad press they got on this, particularly since they hadn't taken delivery of the aircraft at this point. Interesting point was that, because of the damage, engines 3 and 4 couldn't be shut off and it took 9 hours before the fuel ran out for the last one to shut down (Rolls Royce engines incidentally)

I don't appear to have the same problem with my wife when shopping as she is so slow I can usually find her where I left her - In Lotus yesterday she went straight to a rack of shorts and I went off to get the food. 20 mins later she was still at the same rack examining every garment individually. It can take her 15 mins to select onions as she has to check each one to make sure she is getting the best ones.

For those concerned about safety/quality in the Chinese Aerospace industry the attached link is from Boeing regarding their suppliers in China.

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/news/2005...nr_050602g.html

I hate to cast doubt on what could be a serious issue but, if the mortality rate is 100 % over 5 years as you state and 50% of the population in North-East are already infected coupled with one of the articles being from 1999-2000 then, unless there are a ridiculous number of operations being conducted up here then I would have thought it would be a lot quieter.

Having said that I would appreciate a 'more reasonable' judgement from someone who is medically qualified as to the risks here.

Actually I've a question for people who read this forum. Most of you (same for me) have a Thai wife.When making an important decision, do you trust more your wife, afterall she's the local, who knows better what's going on, or your own judgement ?

I talk to my wife,

I take into account her arguments

I take my OWN decision

When you put it that way then clearly I would not go against what my wife said, especially not for complete stranger - it wouldn't be worth the earache/silence depending on the mood.

I look at it from the point of view that it will be someone elses problem and, since this will probably end up being my wife, I am sure she will find a cheaper way of getting rid of my body.